Event report - IAG Practitioner Group Meeting
The first IAG Practitioner Group meeting of this academic year took place on the 24th September and was held online and was well attended by college and HEI partner representatives.
After a warm welcome from Andrew Jones, Director at Linking London, the meeting began with a presentation from Ellie Rowley, Policy and Strategy Manager- Widening Access and Participation from UCAS who presented the latest UCAS admissions data and developments for the 2027 entry cycle, covering applicant trends by age and qualification, subject choices, students living at home, Clearing and Decline My Place. She also highlighted new and existing UCAS tools and resources, including the care leaver application fee waiver, budget calculator and Destinations programme.
This was followed by a college and university round table update from partners on the latest news and updates from each institution. Discussion included upcoming HE fairs and outreach activities, widening participation initiatives, university application support, work experience.
After a short comfort break, we heard from Beth Douglass, Senior Access Officer for School’s and Regional Engagement from UCL who presented an overview of their Access and Widening Participation provision, covering school and regional engagement, attainment-raising work, contextual admissions, subject-specific activities and support for teachers and parents. She also highlighted challenges around engaging male students and parents and outlined the new Access UCL contextual offer arrangements for 2027 entry.
Lastly attendees heard from Ben Rutter, Student Loans Company who presented on the latest student finance update and headlines from latest DfE update on the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, flagging that the opening of the LLE student finance application service had been delayed from the end of September to the end of October 2026 to allow additional testing. He also explained how students will apply for funding for modular provision, the anticipated gradual expansion of modular study and future developments around student loan repayment guidance and Alternative Student Finance.
The next IAG Practitioner Group meeting will take place in January, date and time TBC.